A BIT RICH
A Very British Scandal viewers all have the same complaint about Claire Foy’s Duchess of Argyll after BBC finale
A Very British Scandal concluded tonight with viewers turning on the Duchess of Argyll - played by Claire Foy.
The Crown star took on the role of the partying Duchess Lady Margaret in the true three-part BBC drama.
5
5
Margaret was publicly shamed in a 1963 court case which turned her private life into front-page news, and made her the first victim of revenge porn.
Her husband Ian Campbell, the 11th Duke of Argyll, made public a Polaroid picture of the Duchess wearing nothing but a string of pearls, with a mystery "headless man" in her Mayfair flat.
He then accused her of taking drugs and having 88 affairs, with the court told her suitors included Cabinet ministers, Hollywood stars and royals, earning her the nickname the Dirty Duchess.
Though viewers hated Ian Campbell (Paul Bettany) for apparently marrying the Duchess for money, and vilifying her when she refused to give him more, they also learned some shocking accusations about the socialite.
In the final episode it was revealed that Margaret had forged a letter from Ian's second wife, Louise, which claimed his two sons weren't legitimately his.
She also accused her step-mother Jane, who apparently hated her, of having an affair with her husband Ian.
Later her ill father, George, split from Jane, and he moved in with Margaret, but died shortly after.
There was little room for light relief as people watching at home reacted to the constant stream of bad news on Twitter.
One person said: "This is mad. They’re all horrible people."
Another said: "Neither were especially likeable people. However, she did seem to get the rough end of the deal due to society’s values"
One more remarked: "Both of them are just as bad as each other"
Most read in Drama
Five weeks after Ian Campbell was granted the divorce over Lady Margaret, the Duke married his fourth wife, American heiress Mathilda Coster Mortimer.
They had one child, who tragically died five days after her birth.
Lady Margaret Campbell never remarried, and remained associated with the polaroid photograph with the "headless man" for the rest of her life.
She nevertheless continued to live the privileged lifestyle to which she had become accustomed, later releasing her own memoir, as well as a guide to entertaining.
Old footage of the real Lady Margaret aired at the end of A Very British Scandal in which she was asked whether she believed the Duke married her for money or love.
TEEN PREGNANCY TO UNHAPPY MARRIAGE
DEC 1, 1912: Born Ethel Margaret Whigham, an only child, to Scottish millionaire parents. Grew up in New York and went to private school.
AGE 15: Became pregnant from a holiday romance on the Isle of Wight. Her father forced her to have a termination.
AGE 17: Presented at court in London and named debutante of the year. Announced her engagement to the 7th Earl of Warwick. The wedding did not take place as her head was turned by Charles Sweeny, an American golfer. Also had an affair with Prince George, Duke of Kent.
AGE 20: Married Charles Sweeny. The wedding blocked traffic in West London for three hours. She went on to suffer eight miscarriages and had two children.
AGE 38: Became third wife of Ian Campbell, 11th Duke of Argyll.
AGE 50: The scandalous divorce case came to court. The Duke listed as many as 88 men he believed the Duchess had slept with.
AGE 62: Wrote memoir Forget Not, but it did not save her from financial ruin and she was forced to sell her home.
AGE 80: Died after a bad fall in a nursing home. Buried alongside her first husband in Woking, Surrey.
She answered in the 1990 interview: "I don't know. I simply don't know. I knew I loved him, I knew I wanted to save Inveraray desperately badly. What he felt, I don't know."
That same year, she moved into a nursing home.
Margaret wrote memoir Forget Not, but it did not save her from financial ruin and she was forced to sell her home.
She died in 1993 following a fall and was buried next to her first husband, Charles Sweeny, after losing all of her fortune due to a series of bad investments and her lifestyle.
She had never revealed the identity of the "headless man" or the meaning of "V" in her diary.
Margaret was an only child, born in 1912 to nouveau-riche parents who wanted her to be perfect.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
As a teenager growing up in the Twenties, that meant a clinical focus on her looks.
At 15, Margaret became pregnant and had a secret termination. Then, less than three years later, she had a clandestine affair with socialite Prince Aly Khan, from Pakistan, who threatened suicide if she left him.
5
5
5
We pay for your stories!
Do you have a story for The Sun Showbiz team?
Email [email protected] or call us direct on 02077824220 .
We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
Topics